Central African Republic President says Bitcoin adoption is the ‘right path’ during hard times

Despite the cryptocurrency market getting caught in a bearish slump, it lacks no optimistic supporters, including the President of the Central African Republic (CAR), the second country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.

Indeed, President Faustin-Archange Touadéra continues to support Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto, affirming the decision of his country to adopt it as “choosing the right path during hard times,” in a tweet published on June 14.

According to him:

“Understanding Bitcoin is crucial to acknowledge its disruptive power to bring long term prosperity. Mathematics don’t account for human emotions. Future generations will look behind at these very moments to [celebrate] our strength & unity in choosing the right path during hard times.”

Specifically, the ‘hard times’ he mentioned refer to the recent crypto market downturn, which has affected all digital assets and caused the collective loss of $370 billion in total market capitalization over the course of a single week.

Adopting Bitcoin as legal tender

It is worth noting that the CAR officially adopted Bitcoin as legal tender in late April 2022, right after passing a bill regulating cryptocurrencies, as Finbold reported. This move made it the world’s second nation to do so after El Salvador. 

Namely, in September 2021, the Central American country became the first in the world to allow consumers to use the flagship digital asset in all transactions, alongside the US dollar, which has served as the country’s official currency for more than two decades.

In response to the move, the United States Congresswoman Norma J. Torres, alongside Congressman Rick Crawford, introduced in April the Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador (ACES) Act to mitigate the risks to the U.S. from El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender, calling the country’s move a “careless gamble.”